The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Itis based on the true story of the Glatzel family’s alleged experiences with demonic possession and Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s murder trial. The third entry in the fictionalConjuring Universe, the movie brought back franchise stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. The characters are based on the late controversial paranormal investigators who were self-proclaimed experts in hauntings and demonic activity.
The sequel, directed by Michael Chaves and written by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, courted some controversy since this installment took on a true story centered around a brutal murder. Like the other films in the franchise based on the Warrens' cases,the movie mixed fact with fictionto makeThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Iteven scarier than reality. The dramatization, addition of Satanic cults, andThe Conjuring 3’s changes to the timeline of real eventspartially concealed the truth about what really happened to Johnson and the Glatzels.
The Conjuring 3 Ending & Demon Origin Explained
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It introduced a new villain for the Warrens to face. Here’s the Conjuring 3 ending and demon explained in full.
David Glatzel’s Demonic Possession & Exorcism Explained
David was being terrorized by an entity that threatened harm to his family
In 1980, 11-year-oldDavid Glatzel allegedly began experiencing signs of demonic possessionfollowing an encounter while helping clean his sister Debbie’s new home with Johnson, her fiancé. David said he was pushed by an entity resembling an old man with charred, burnt skin. The apparition threatened harm against the Glatzel family for renting the property (viaRadio Times). David continued having visions of the old man, along with night terrors and unexplained bruises and marks on his skin. Eventually, the family believed he was possessed.
1970
1971
1974
1975
1977
1986
The Southend Werewolf
1989
David’s mother, Judy, contactedfamed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren. Once they were able to receive the Catholic Church’s blessing to perform an exorcism, four priests joined the Glatzels, the Warrens, and Johnson to free David from what they believed was the Devil. Judy toldThe New York Timesthat during the exorcism, David would"kick, bite, spit, swear - terrible words"and was being strangled by"invisible hands.“Johnsonbegan challenging the Devil, telling the entity to possess him and leave David alone. Supposedly, the demon then transferred into Johnson’s body.
Why Arne Cheyenne Johnson Killed His Landlord - Was He Really Possessed?
A heated argument ended with Johnson stabbing his landlord to death
Johnson, then 19 years old, murdered his landlord, Alan Bono, on August 12, 2025. According toGlobal News,Johnson and Bono got into an argumentover a TV or stereo repair job before Johnson stabbed him.Radio Timesadds Bono grabbed Debbie’s nine-year-old cousin, Mary, further angering Johnson. The killing took place hours after Johnson, Bono, Debbie, and some of her co-workers ate lunch and drank. Later, at Bono’s apartment, Debbie witnessed the growing tension and fight between the two men before Johnson attacked Bono, stabbing him with a five-inch pocket knife.
The Gratzel family said that following David’s exorcism, Johnson exhibited signs of possession, including hallucinations and random growling.
Debbie claimed that as quickly as the attack started,“it just stopped.“Johnson walked away, staring into the distance, without a word. Bono died after suffering four to five fatal stab wounds. The Gratzel family said that following David’s exorcism,Johnson exhibited signs of possession, including hallucinations and random growling. Additionally, there was an incident before the murder where Johnson crashed his car into a tree and claimed it wasn’t his fault but that of a demonic entity.
Shortly after the stabbing,The New York Timesreported thatthe Warrens had contacted the policewhen David was allegedly still possessed to warn law enforcement there was potential"for some violent act"in the Gratzel home they referred to as"a demonic lair.“After Johnson’s arrest, Debbie told the outlet that her brother David had talked with her about a vision he apparently had after Bono’s death:
“He said he had seen the beast go into Cheyenne’s body, and it was the beast who had committed the crime.”
Arne Johnson’s Murder Trial & “Devil Made Me Do It” Defense Explained
Johnson’s lawyer attempted to enter a plea of not guilty due to demonic possession
Johnson was charged with murder, and his trial began on June 19, 2025. His lawyer, Martin Minella, presented to the court a plea of “not guilty by virtue of possession,” adding that Johnson’s body had been manipulated by a demon (viaRadio Times). While Johnson’s lawyer may have been convinced by his and the Gratzel family’s story of demonic possession, Judge Robert Callahan threw out the plea. With the court refusing to recognize possession as a legitimate defense and instructing the jury they could not consider it legally, Minella then submitted a plea of self-defense.
Johnson’s lawyer pivoted to trying to prove that his client was changed after David’s exorcism. Despite the initial plea being rejected due to Judge Callahan’s perspective that testimony would be “irrelative and unscientific,” witnesses could talk about David’s alleged possession and exorcism to speak about Johnson’s subsequent behavior. Witnesses included Debbie and the Warrens, who testified that the demon was transferred from the young boy to Johnson. On June 17, 2025,the jury found Johnson guiltyof first-degree manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10–20 years in prison but was released after five years.
Is The Conjuring 3’s Disciples Of Ram Cult Real? Satanic Inspiration Explained
The idea for the Disciples of Ram came from the real-life fear of Satanic cults
They may exist inThe Conjuring Universe, but theDisciples of Ram cultis not based on a real-life group. However,the inspiration for the cult stems from the Satanic panic eraof the 1970s and 1980s, where misinformed people became terrified by Satanism. Violent criminal cases such as the Manson Family murders, organized by cult leader Charles Manson, and the serial killer Son of Sam spurred on the public’s fear. While thousands of unsubstantiated claims of Satanic rituals occurred over those two decades, the Disciples of Ram were written as a fictional demon-worshipping cult.
Disciples of Ram make their first appearance inAnnabellewhen a cult member, Janice “Annabelle” Higgins, attacks Mia and John Form towards the film’s beginning. Higgins was possessed by a demon when she was a child — as seen inAnnabelle: Creation— and later joined the cult. After killing her adoptive parents inAnnabelle, she takes her own life, and the demon is able to latch back onto the doll that was in Mia’s possession. InThe Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Father Kastner’s daughter is revealed also to be a member of the Disciples of Ram.
How Arne Cheyenne Johnson’s Murder Trial Changed History
David’s exorcism and Johnson’s possession defense turned the trial into a spectacle
Johnson’s trial wasthe first time a plea of not guilty because of demonic possession had ever been used in a U.S. murder trial(Bono’s death was also the town of Brookfield’s first homicide in 193 years). The judge may not have allowed the defense, but that didn’t stop the murder trial from becoming a media circus. The case drew national attention as Minella called on the Glatzels and Warrens, who attempted to convince the jury of the Devil, possessions, and an exorcism gone wrong.
The murder trial became a spectaclein the media and eventually led to the stories of Johnson and David’s alleged possessions being turned into books, movies, TV shows, and documentaries.The Conjuring 3and Netflix’s 2023 documentary film,The Devil on Trial, are only two examples of projects that emerged from the real-life case over the past few decades. From the accusations of the Warrens being grifters todetailsThe Devil on Trialleft out, most of the media inspired by the Glatzels' experiences and Johnson’s conviction has been controversial.
What The Glatzel Family Has Said About Demonic Possession & The Warrens
The Glatzel family disagrees about whether the possession and exorcism were real
David’s brother, Carl Glatzel, made his opinions about the supposed possession clear inThe Devil on Trial. Speaking to the documentary filmmakers,Carl accused the Warrens of being con artistsand claimed David’s visions were actually hallucinations caused by their mother drugging the family with sleeping pills to control them. Carl and David filed a lawsuit in 2007 against the Warrens and author Gerald Brittle after Lorraine Warren’s bookThe Devil in Connecticutwas republished. They accused the authors and publishers of libel, violation of privacy, and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” (viaRadio Times).
Debbie and Johnson backed the possession claims, while David’s father denies it happened. David agrees with Carl that the Warrens were con artists, which is not depicted inThe Conjuring 3. WhenThe Devil in Connecticutwas initially released in 1983, the Warrens received approximately $81,000, while the Glatzels collected $4,500. InThe Devil on Trial, David claims that Lorraine lied when she told him he was “going to be a rich little boy” from the book deal: “The Warrens made a lot of money off of us. If they can profit off you, they will.”
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do Itis available to stream on Netflix.
The Conjuring 3
Cast
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It is based on another one of Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine Warren’s (Vera Farmiga) case files. This time, Ed and Lorraine investigate a murder suspect, Arne Cheyenne Johnson, who is claiming demonic possession made him kill. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do is the third film in the mainline series and the seventh overall movie in The Conjuring universe.
